We’re divorcing but living under one roof like de Blasio — why it’s the best ever
You don’t have to be a hotshot ex-mayor of New York City — or a real housewife of Beverly Hills — to get in on this head-scratching relationship trend.
In February 2020, just a month shy of her two-year wedding anniversary, Ollie Rose — a stay-at-home mom of two boys — asked her husband, Kaliko, for a divorce.
She’d grown fed up with cooking, cleaning and caring for their toddler sons without any support from Kaliko, a traveling electrician and then-staunch “misogynist,” who she claims began expressing his chauvinistic beliefs after they tied the knot in March 2018.
He felt chores and childcare were exclusively “woman’s work,” Rose, 30, told The Post, saying that he refused to lift a finger around the house.
So, they separated — but only in terms of romance, not real estate.
“He’d f – – ked up [by not helping out], and I told him we were finished,” said Rose, from Tucson, Arizona, “but I wanted him to forge a relationship with the kids.
“So we decided to continue living together under the same roof,” she said, adding that their family finances also didn’t allow for moving into separate homes.
It turns out the ex-couple’s choice to cohabitate after pulling the plug on their marriage is not uncommon.
In fact, the unconventional living arrangement is becoming an A-lister trend among bigwigs like “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” stars Kyle Richards, 54, and hubby Mauricio Umansky, 53.
The Bravolebrities are rumored to have called it quits after 27 years of holy matrimony — coexisting, however, in their sprawling Encino, California, estate for the foreseeable future. (Richards and Umansky released a joint statement via Instagram Tuesday, deeming claims of their impending divorce “untrue.”)
‘As long as the two people are kind, considerate and respectful of each other, living together but leading separate lives can work’
Kathryn Smerling, NYC divorce counselor, told The Post
Former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, 62, and his wife of 29 years, Chirlane McCray, 68, also unveiled their plans to spilt and explore separate romantic relationships while remaining legally married and residing together in their Park Slope abode Wednesday.
“You can feel when things are off … and you don’t want to live that way,” de Blasio told the New York Times of their new lifestyle.
The onetime White House hopeful and McCray — who share adult children Chiara, 28, and Dante, 26 — were said to have held hands and exchanged high-fives while announcing their separation.
“One of the things we’re saying to the world is we don’t need to possess each other,” de Blasio said.
Upper East Side divorce counselor Kathryn Smerling tells The Post that couples who choose to live together after breaking up typically enjoy a renewed sense of friendship and appreciation for one another.
“As long as the two people are kind, considerate and respectful of each other, living together but leading separate lives can work,” said Smerling, adding that the nontraditional setup, too, can benefit an ex-pair’s kids, regardless of their ages.
“Children become very distraught about divorce when it becomes litigious and disrupts their everyday lives,” said the psychologist, who’s worked in family therapy for two decades.
“But when kids, whether they’re 5 or 25, see their divorced parents living and parenting together, and showing up as a loving team, it works better than an abrupt split.”
Eva Eileen, 33, a mother of three from Mesa, Arizona, told The Post that her brood has thrived since she and her new husband, Justin, 31, made a seemingly shocking decision — to move in with her ex-husband Paul, 36, in the summer of 2021.
“Living together feels natural for our family, and it’s really benefitted my children,” said Eileen, an aesthetician.
She and Paul share a son, 15, and a daughter, 13. Justin fathers her 8-year-old boy.
Eileen admitted that Justin and Paul — whom she divorced in 2013 due to what she called his unhealthy habits — initially butted heads.
But in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the guys set aside their differences to become co-parents and housemates — and ultimately close friends.
“My kids feel so spoiled with love, family, quality time by me and their dads,” said Eileen.
And separating but living together had an equally favorable effect on Rose’s household.
“In December 2021, we got back together,” Rose revealed.
She and Kaliko — who became more hands-on with the kids and household responsibilities during their marital hiatus — have welcomed a third son.
The twosome even plans to renew their wedding vows next summer.
“We’re more in love now than we’ve ever been,” Rose said.
